Last Child In The Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder

Description

This book shows how we can improve our children's lives by encouraging them to find freedom and creativity in nature. Camping in the garden, riding bikes through the woods, climbing trees, collecting bugs, picking wildflowers, running through piles of autumn leaves ... these are the things childhood memories are made of. But for a whole generation of today's children the pleasures of a free-range childhood are missing, and their indoor habits contribute to epidemic obesity, attention deficit disorder, isolation and childhood depression.

This timely book shows how our children have become increasingly alienated and distanced from nature, why this matters and how we can make a difference. Last Child in the Woods is a clarion call, brilliantly written, compelling and irresistibly persuasive - a book that will change minds and lives.

Reviews

'This is a hugely important book that should be read by every parent, teacher and politician... It's message is about connection to nature... This restatement of a truth we all know, deep inside, has never been more timely.' --Tim Smit, Chief Executive of The Eden Project

'Nature is as important to children as food and sleep... Much like outdoor play itself, Last Child in the Woods actively engages... What Louv certainly persuades of is that in nature a child finds freedom... and genuine creativity...' --Rosie Boycott, Literary Review

'A cri de coeur for our children' --Margaret Stead, Guardian

'A single sentence explains why Louv's book is so important: "our children", he writes, "are the first generation to be raised without meaningful contact with the natural world." This matters, and Last Child in the Woods makes it patently clear why and lays out a path back.' --Ecologist

Author description

Richard Louv is chairman of the Children and Nature Network and honorary co-chair of the National Forum on Children and Nature. He is the author of seven other books and has written for newspapers and magazines including the New York Times and the Washington Post.